Eldorado Resorts Chairman and CEO Gary Carano says the Reno marketing is much more diversified and not longer wholly dependent upon gaming dollars to support the local economy.
The Reno market has diversified, with the addition of a $5 billion Tesla Motors manufacturing plant and other technology-based developments creating many well-paying jobs not tied to the gaming industry.
The local housing and job market also have improved, and with a more diversified local economy, are expected to stay.
Reno currently has 13 casinos, including five along downtown corridor of Virginia Street. Eldorado Resorts in the past year inked deals to acquire MGM Resorts International’s 50 percent share of the Silver Legacy Resort & Casino and bought all assets in Circus Circus Reno.
Those deals gave Eldorado Resorts complete ownership of seven casinos, and Carano says they give to company a more competitive hold on the locals gaming market.
Eldorado Resorts now owns three casinos and nearly a third of all hotel rooms in the Reno market.
Only about 20 percent of its business comes from locals, with the bulk coming from California visitors. But Carano says Eldorado Resorts is better poised to grab a larger share of the locals market.
Also focused on the locals market in Reno is the Monarch Casino and Resort, which owns the Atlantis casino on Virginia Street in Reno.
With the local economy more diversified, Monarch COO David Farahi says the Atlantis is seeing more local gaming dollars coming through its doors and expect the trend to continue.
The more diversified local economy also is driving up demand for hotel rooms in non-gaming establishments, making the addition of hotel rooms more viable without needing casino gaming to ensure people will stay in them.
Instead, Reno and its non-gaming attractions are proving more robust and driving more investment in non-gaming developments.
Ultimately, that’s good news for the Reno gaming market, as more visitors come for reasons other than slot machines and gaming tables, but still stay and play.
